


Not A Silver Medal

by Canonseeker



Category: RWBY
Genre: Bad Parent Raven Branwen, F/M, Gen, Good Parent Taiyang Xiao Long, Mentioned Raven Branwen, Pre-RWBY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:01:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28697364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canonseeker/pseuds/Canonseeker
Summary: Shortly after Ruby's Birth, Taiyang and Summer discuss Summer's resolve to return to the war that she had retired from...for a reason worth fighting for once again.
Relationships: Raven Branwen/Taiyang Xiao Long, Summer Rose/Taiyang Xiao Long
Kudos: 3





	Not A Silver Medal

Tai returns home to his cottage in Patch. He enters, letting Zwei out into the yard on his way in. Summer is in the living room, dressed in sweat pants and a sports bra, running on their treadmill

Summer*Between breaths*: Hi honey.

Tai: You’re still on that thing? 

Summer: Gotta... Get back in... Shape...

Tai: You just had a baby a few weeks ago.

Summer: Can’t be fighting Grimm... With a mom bod... Can I?

Tai: Who’s watching the girls?

Summer: Um... Yang’s watching Ruby?

Tai: Yang’s only two!

Summer: Two and a half. She’s not complaining. Every time I look in there... She’s either playing with her... Singing to her... Or showering her with kisses. By the end of the week... I might start teaching her... How to warm up a bottle.

Tai: I really hope she doesn’t grow up to become an enabler.

Summer doesn’t respond, just checks her pulse

Tai: Okay, that’s it.

Tai goes to the wall and unplugs the machine. It slows to a stop, and Summer slows with it, catching her breath.

Summer: So. You’ve chosen death.

Tai: I’ve chosen to give you a break. Grimm didn’t over-run society while you were pregnant, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to take your time getting back out there.

He puts his arms around her, and she reciprocates

Tai: Besides, you’re still my silver eyed warrior no matter what shape you’re in.

Summer: More like your silver medal, am I right?

With a mischievous grin, she goes in for a kiss, but he falters and pulls away.

Tai: Why would you say something like that?

She backs up.

Summer: It was a joke, okay? Lighten up.

Tai: I didn’t think it was very funny.

Summer: Yeah, well...

Tai: You don’t... You don’t really think that, do you?

Summer: Think what?

Tai: I don’t know... That you...

Summer: That I’m a rebound? That I’m Raven’s replacement, and that I wouldn’t have the life I have now if I hadn’t salvaged it from her?

Tai: I would never say any of that. 

Summer: ...

Tai: Sums...

Summer: Look, you know I’ve never really liked Raven, right?

Tai: You weren’t exactly subtle about it.

Summer: After team STRQ formed, I hated seeing how she bullied and manipulated her brother. Then you started dating, and I could only stand by and watch as she did the same to you.

Tai: It was that bad, huh?

Summer: I will NEVER compare myself negatively to that woman. But that doesn’t change the fact that you and Yang were hers before you were mine.

Tai: I’m sorry. I didn’t know it bothered you so much.

Summer: Yeah, well... Do you know what the first thing Ozpin ever said to me was?

Tai*Doing a bad impression*: If I have to clean up after your team one more time...

Summer: Before that.

Tai: I didn’t know you spoke at all before that.

Summer: It was after he put Team STRQ together. I approached him after the ceremony and asked him why he picked me for team leader.

Tai: He said you had a keen eye for observation, could recognize the strengths and weaknesses of your team mates, and were really good at using that information to strategize and delegate tasks?

Summer: Hah! I wish. I had to figure all of that out on my own.

Tai: Then what did he say?

Summer: He told me that we’re living in a world that’s rife with pure evil, and we need leaders who are able to recognize the good hiding underneath all of it. The good that we’re fighting to protect. Then he gestured to my eyes, and told me that the reason they’re silver is because I’m the kind of person who can see the silver lining in any situation.

Tai: Wow. That... That sounds like one long, convoluted load of crap.

Summer: Yeah, and I’m the one who bought it.

Tai: I guess even when someone’s full of shit, they can still be smooth about it.

Summer: He was lying about my silver eyes. I know that now. But what he said about me... I don’t think he was wrong.

She returns to him, and wraps her arms around his waist

Summer: When I saw you... After she left, I mean... I saw a good man, with a kind heart, who had all of the love in the world to give. Whose only mistake was giving it all to the wrong person.

Tai: Aw...

They kiss

Summer: And when I saw Yang...

They peer into the other room, where Yang is hovering over Ruby’s crib, dangling a toy over her while she giggles at it

Tai: A silver lining.

Summer: So yeah, the Raven stuff... It is what it is. You take life for what it is, and you choose to focus on the bright side.

She goes to the wall and plugs the treadmill back in

Summer: It just helps to joke about it once in a while.


End file.
